“His songs are like a walk through his imagination – they draw you in and use all your senses”: Why Liv Kristine had to cover Mike Oldfield

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In 2011, Liv Kristine – who co-founded Leaves’ Eyes in 2003 and left the symphonic metal band in 2016 – told Prog why Mike Oldfield’s music was so important to her, and shared some love for Kate Bush too.

“I grew up listening to Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, but I’ve also loved Mike Oldfield’s music since I was a little girl. I especially adore the songs he did with Maggie Reilly – I remember trying to imitate her in front of the mirror with a hairbrush!

I had Tubular Bells on cassette, and I remember hearing his songs all the time on Norwegian radio – he’s still huge in Norway. One of my best friends has driven his tour bus!

The big thing for me about his music is the way it makes me feel – it’s like sitting in a field and breathing in nature; it gives me a sense of tranquility and serenity.

Mike Oldfield - To France (Official Video) - YouTube

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When I hear his guitar playing, it reminds me of the leaves on a tree moving in the breeze. His songs are like a walk through his imagination – they really draw you in and make you use all your senses.

When we talked about doing a cover version for our album Meredead, we felt To France would work perfectly because the vocals are in a comfortable range for me. It’s also my favourite song of his. I researched it before we recorded it so I could really understand what he was trying to say.

I always thought it was about Mary, Queen Of Scots – but that’s just one small part; there’s so much more to it than that. I hope I’ve done it justice because it’s such a special song. We shot the video in a huge castle in Sweden and everything just worked out perfectly.

LEAVES' EYES - To France | NAPALM RECORDS - YouTube

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I’ve seen video clips of Mike performing the song live with Maggie. and I really enjoyed watching her face while she was singing, and learning from it. I’ve never had any formal musical education so I’ve had to teach myself; and the best way I’ve found is singing along to other people’s songs.

Kate Bush is another artist I use for warming up. I have her greatest hits album The Whole Story on my MP3 player on tour – I find her vocals spellbinding. She’s unique; I would have loved to have had the chance to see her in concert.”

Artists

Contributing to Prog since the very first issue, writer and broadcaster Natasha Scharf was the magazine’s News Editor before she took up her current role of Deputy Editor, and has interviewed some of the best-known acts in the progressive music world from ELP, Yes and Marillion to Nightwish, Dream Theater and TesseracT. Starting young, she set up her first music fanzine in the late 80s and became a regular contributor to local newspapers and magazines over the next decade. The 00s would see her running the dark music magazine, Meltdown, as well as contributing to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Artrocker. Author of music subculture books The Art Of Gothic and Worldwide Gothic, she’s since written album sleeve notes for Cherry Red, and also co-wrote Tarja Turunen’s memoirs, Singing In My Blood. Beyond the written word, Natasha has spent several decades as a club DJ, spinning tunes at aftershow parties for Metallica, Motörhead and Nine Inch Nails. She’s currently the only member of the Prog team to have appeared on the magazine’s cover.

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